IEA raises 2013 global oil consumption forecast to 90.8m bbl/day

18 January 2013 09:51[Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS)--Global oil consumption is expected to hit 90.8m bbl/day this year, an increase of 240,000 bbl/day from an earlier projection, partly on better demand expectations for China, the International Energy Agency said on Friday.

Estimates on oil demand for the fourth quarter of 2012 were also raised, the IEA said in its latest report.

On the supply side, non-OPEC production is expected to increase by 980,000 bbl/day to 54.3m bbl/day. IEA said this is the highest growth rate in output recorded since 2010.

In December 2012, global supplies were at 91.2m bbl/day, with non-OPEC output at 54.2m bbl/day, it said.

OPEC crude supply in December was at its lowest level in a year at 30.65m bbl/day because of lower output from Saudi Arabia and Iraq, IEA said.

In the fourth quarter of last year, global refinery runs increased to around 75.9m bbl/day, up by 1.5m bbl/day from the same period in 2011, with growth in refining activity concentrated in China, India and Russia, according to the IEA.

“Favourable refining margins, a gradual reduction in offline capacity and a cold snap in Asia and the FSU [former Soviet Union] supported refinery throughputs in the last months of 2012,” it said.

Towards the end of last year, crude oil prices were rising on the back of stronger winter demand and geopolitical concerns.

At 17:36 Singapore time (09:36 GMT), Brent crude was down 19 cents at 110.91/bbl, while US crude was 13 cents lower at $95.36/bbl.